


Bag End Books

by beetle



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-25 12:44:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2622230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beetle/pseuds/beetle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A struggling single mother finds common ground with a well-off widow. Inspired in part by BadSkippy’s wonderful Bilbo/Thorin fic, Random Thoughts (http://archiveofourown.org/works/2369507?view_full_work=true), from which I’ve cheerfully lifted Bag End Books in name and photo.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [badskippy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/badskippy/gifts).



> Notes/Warnings: None.

“Happy birthday, Mummy!”  
  
“Happy birthday, Mum!”  
  
Dis Durin woke up on Sunday morning to her boys pouncing on her bed and cuddling up to her, with hugs and kisses, and smiled through a titanic yawn.  
  
“What? Is it my birthday,  _already_?” she asked sleepily through the hand covering her mouth. She squinted her tired eyes open and hissed at the bright sunlight shining through her window, groaning as the boys tried to pull her into sitting position. “Alright, alright, I’m up, loves, just . . .  give me a moment to get there fully.”  
  
“But it’s only your birthday for another . . . seventeen hours, Mum!” Kili said, obviously proud of his hard-won skills at maths and telling time. “And we have places to go!”  
  
“Hmm.” Dis yawned again, finally sitting up—to a cheer from her eight year old and a hug from her eleven year old. “And what places, pray tell, must we go on my birthday?”  
  
“It’s a surprise,” Fili said smugly, sitting back and grinning. When he did, with his golden-blond hair and bright blue eyes, he looked just like his father. Dis couldn’t help but return that smile, even as her heart sighed. “Me and Kili and Uncle Thorin have it all planned out!”  
  
“Oh, you do, do you?” Dis pulled a giggling Kili into her arms for more hugs and kisses. Her youngest giggled and squealed, flailing about as she tickled him, too, knocking several half-finished novels from Dis’ bed, to the floor. “Then I shall have to step-to, and smartish, I suppose.”  
  
“Yep,” Fili agreed, climbing off the bed and tugging a still giggling Kili—who was sprawled all over the bed and Dis ( _he’s going to be a tall one, like his uncle_ , she thought)—and bending a stern eye on Dis. “Kili and I have made you breakfast, and it’s getting cold.”  
  
Fighting to keep the look of sudden horror off her face—the last time Fili and Kili had made her breakfast, it’d taken hours to clean the kitchen properly. Not to mention the breakfast, itself . . . Marmite-covered  _everything_ , just the way the boys liked their breakfasts—Dis tried on another smile. “Really? You’ve made me breakfast? How . . . sweet.”  
  
“Well,” Fili admitted, as Kili hopped to the floor. “Uncle Thorin helped.”  
  
“Yeah. He got all the high stuff off the shelves and made the eggs,” Kili added, frowning. “I don’t think he used nearly enough Marmite, though.”  
  
Dis’ hopes for breakfast cautiously rose. Thorin wais, it was to be acknowledged, a  _terrible_  cook. Except for making eggs, it seemed. Be it over-easy, fried, or omelet, Thorin had a knack for making eggs. He claimed he learned in the army, from many details spent in the kitchens, due to . . . shenanigans he’d got up to.  
  
And there he’d always left it, refusing to elucidate on exactly what those shenanigans had been. Especially in mixed company.  
  
“C’ _mon_ , Mummy, let’s  _go_!” Kili started up again, taking her hand and tugging on it. Chuckling, Dis let herself be pulled out of bed, pausing only to grab her bathrobe from the back of the bedroom door, before following the boys through the flat, to the kitchen, from which the smells of eggs and sausage beckoned like a siren.  
  


*

  
  
Two hours later, blindfolded, but seated very patiently in the passenger seat of Thorin’s car, Dis sighed. “Really, you three, isn’t this going a bit overboard?”  
  
“Nope.” Fili and Kili giggled, and Thorin grunted. “No.”  
  
Sighing again, Dis didn’t even bother turning her head toward the passenger side window. Despite the little rays of light coming in under her very securely tied blindfold, she couldn’t make out anything but the occasional bit of color. Once in a while, one of the boy would pat her shoulder and say: “Almost there, Mum.”  
  
This had been going on for a short eternity, or so it seemed to Dis. Though really, it couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes. London’s traffic only crawled by, no doubt, even on a Sunday morning.  
  
“You’re gonna love your surprise, Mummy,” Kili said, nearly throttling her with his bony, but strong-armed hug from the back seat. “It’s brilliant!”  
  
“Is it . . . hmm, Jason Statham taking me on a romantic lunch?”  
  
“Ew! No!” Fili exclaimed, sounding pretty horrified, himself. “Not even close! You’re never gonna guess what it is.”  
  
“And we’re  _not_  giving you hints,” Kili added forbiddingly, just as Thorin chuckled.  
  
“Alright, boys, we’re here,” he said, and the boys cheered, talking excitedly about how Dis was going to love her surprise while Thorin parked the car. Then they were hopping out, slamming the doors, despite Thorin’s admonition that they did  _not_  have to slam the doors to get them to stay shut.  
  
“Can I take off my blindfold  _now_?” Dis asked, with meek amusement. Thorin gently batted her hands gently away from the length of folded cloth.  
  
“Not yet. I’ll come around the car to get you. Just one moment. The boys and I will take you to the boo—er, the surprise.”  
  
Sighing yet again, Dis said: “Yes, Thorin,” and waited to be lead to her surprise.  
  


*

  
  
When the blindfold came off, Dis blinked in the light and found herself staring up at a place she’d never before seen.  
  
  
  
 **BAG END BOOKS**.   
  
“SURPRISE, MUMMY!” both boys shouted at once, and Thorin, who’d removed the blindfold, leaned in and brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Happy birthday, Sis.”  
  
“ _Bag End Books_ ,” she murmured, smiling and wrapping her arms around the boys, who were hugging her waist. “I take it you three didn’t buy me the entire bookstore?”  
  
Kili giggled. “Don’t be silly, Mummy!”  
  
“Show it to her, Uncle Thorin!” FIli said, bouncing and leaning over to peer up at Thorin, who smiled his uncertain, rather underused smile, and reached into an inner pocket of his navy peacoat—Dis’ and the boys’ birthday gift to him last year, and he wore it whenever the weather was even slightly chilly—and pulled out a fancy looking gilt card. It looked like an AmEx, until she got a closer look at it.  
  
The card was, despite having been in Thorin’s pocket, chilly and stiff in her hand. It was inscribed with her name, and in each corner was, in bold, but elegant lettering **£150**. In the center of the card was the name of the establishment in front of which they stood.  
  
“It’s a gift card, Mummy!” Kili exclaimed, his dark eyes lit up with anticipation.  
  
“Yeah. We know how much you like all kinds of books, so we got you this so you could buy whatever books you want, whenever you want!” FIli said, squeezing her tight. “We love you, Mum.”  
  
Eyes welling up with tears, Dis hugged her boys closer. “And I love you, too. So very much.” And with that, her eyes went to Thorin, who smiled his underused smile again, his face ruddy in the brisk fall breeze.  
  
“We put in all our savings from last Christmas and from the Tooth Fairy!” Kili said proudly, and Fili added: “And Uncle Thorin put in the rest!”  
  
Which meant that Thorin had put in the bulk of the money. Dis bent a stern but soft look on her brother, and he shoved his hands in his pocket, looking sheepish. Smithing was a lucrative career—especially when one was as good at it as Thorin—but Thorin was far from rich. Not with the bulk of his money going to Hillcrest Manor, and taking care of their father.  
  
 _Thorin, you shouldn’t have_ , Dis mouthed, and Thorin shrugged again, his dark blue eyes meeting her dark brown ones.   
  
 _I wanted to, and I could. Because I love you_ , he mouthed back, stepping toward her and the boys and winding his big, strong arms around them.  
  
“I love you all very much,” Dis whispered, her heart beating faster and harder with that love. The tears threatening to overflow her eyes fell, alongside an escaped sob. “ _My boys_.”  
  
And there the Durin family stood for long minutes, simply enjoying their closeness. At least until Kili broke away from the hug, laughing, and tugging his mother’s hand once more. “C’mon, Mummy, let’s buy books!”  
  
Laughing, too, and discreetly wiping at her eyes, Dis nodded. “Alright. Let’s see what damage we can do to this giftcard.”  
  


*

  
  
Dis was the first to step into  _Bag End Books_ , and she instantly fell in love.  
  
“Oh, Thorin . . . boys. . . .” she breathed, looking around the large, yet homey space and all the neatly shelved books. Here and there were chairs and tables, and even a sofa for reading. The floors were shining hard-wood and creaked only slightly underfoot when one walked, said creakings interrupted by the Oriental rugs placed here and there. “Oh, what a wonderful place!”  
  
“ _Toldja she’d like it_ ,” Kili said from behind her, in a very loud whisper.  
  
“ _I was the one who told_ you,” Fili whispered back, and before they could get into an argument over who told whom what, Thorin was shushing them and telling them to put on their “museum manners,” and not touch anything without asking first.  
  
Dis, meanwhile, had shouldered her purse and was drifting around the space in front of the large picture window as one entranced. She literally did not know where to begin. Classics? Modern? Biography? She almost fell prey to vertigo trying to see everything at once!  
  
Spotting a counter with a quaint-looking cash register and a pleasant-looking young man behind it, she immediately made her way over to him, Thorin and the boys on her heels.  
  
She waited for the young man—perhaps eighteen or twenty—to finish ringing up an elderly customer. “You always have the best selection for such great prices,” the woman said in a trembling, but pleased voice. The young man smiled, and it took his face from pleasant to adorable in the space of a heartbeat, lighting up hazel eyes and making his cutely rounded face look even younger than it already did. He ran a hand through unruly, almost-auburn curls and blushed.  
  
“You always say that, Mrs. Fleming,” he said in a pleasing tenor.  
  
“That’s because it’s always true, Bilbo!” Chuckling, the elderly woman took her little brown bag of books and reached out to pat Bilbo on the cheek. “Now, you have a nice day.”  
  
“I will. And you, too!”  
  
Chuckling himself, the young man—Bilbo, according to Mrs. Fleming and to his own nametag—watched Mrs. Fleming go with a smile, then turned his gaze to Dis, Thorin, Fili, and Kili, his eyes lingering longest on Thorin, widening as his mouth dropped open a little.  
  
“Erm, hullo! Welcome to  _Bag End Books_! I’m Bilbo! How may I help you?” he chirruped, his eyes going between Dis and Thorin. A glance at Thorin showed that  _his_  eyes weren’t going anywhere but to Bilbo. And  _lingering_  there.  
  
 _Well_ , Dis thought, smiling a little as she turned back toward the counter and Bilbo, who was staring at Thorin once more, like a man who’d just seen his dream step into reality.  
  
Clearing her throat reluctantly, Dis held up her giftcard. “I have this card and I’d like to buy some books. The problem is, I have no Earthly idea where to begin. I’m a bit overwhelmed.”  
  
Bilbo’s mild, but clearly still gobsmacked gaze came back to rest on Dis and he smiled. “That happens quite a bit when someone receives one of our giftcards. May I ask, is this your first visit to our little store?”  
  
“Yes,” Dis said, charmed by Bilbo’s friendly manner. “I can’t believe I’ve lived in London for so many years and didn’t even know this place was here.”  
  
“London’s best-kept secret, in my humble opinion,” Bilbo said, sotto-voiced, and Dis chuckled. Bilbo’s slightly uncertain smile widened and firmed. “At any rate, I’d be glad to have someone show you around, maybe help you choose a few books to be swept up by.”  
  
“That’d be—quite nice, I think,” Dis said, glancing back at Thorin again—he was very obviously trying not to stare at Bilbo—and the rather well-behaved boys. She suddenly had a marvelous idea. “And you three can wait up here while I browse for a bit.”  
  
“But  _Mum_!”  
  
“Aw, Mummy!”  
  
“Will you keep an eye on them for a little while, for me, Thorin?” Dis asked sweetly, ignoring pleas to come with her from Fili and puppy-dog eyes from Kili. When Thorin nodded, his eyes still darting everywhere but at Bilbo, Dis turned back to Bilbo and put on her most innocent smile. “He’s really the best brother a girl could have, isn’t he?”  
  
“ _Brother_?” Bilbo seemed surprised. And indeed, he wouldn’t be the first to take Thorin for her husband. She and Thorin bore little enough of a physical resemblance to each other: but for their mother’s dark blue eyes, Thorin took almost entirely after their tall, burly, dark-haired father. And but for her father’s dark brown eyes and curls, Dis took entirely after their small, fair mother. “Oh, er, of course!”  
  
Bilbo was quick to agree, blushing and stealing another glance a Thorin, and offering a smile before excusing himself for a moment.  
  
“I’ll get you  _Bag End Books_ ’ pre-eminent expert on all things literature. Be back in just a tic.”  
  
Dis turned to watch Thorin watch Bilbo go, and snorted at the poleaxed look on Thorin’s normally somber face.  
  
“Stare any harder, and he’ll burst into flame,” she noted dryly. Thorin glanced at her and blushed.  
  
“I wasn’t staring.”  
  
“His arse would beg to differ.” Dis snorted again and Thorin turned even redder, but didn’t take his eyes off the aforementioned arse till it rounded a corner and disappeared behind some shelves. “He’s very cute. And he couldn’t take his eyes off of you, either.”  
  
Thorin cleared his throat gruffly. “That’s neither here nor there.”  
  
“You should ask him to coffee.”  
  
“No, I should  _not_.”  
  
“And why is that?”  
  
“You think he hasn’t had a ton of leering patrons just randomly ask him out to coffee before?” Thorin glanced wistfully off in the direction Bilbo had gone. “Chatting up the staff is . . . not something I do. Ever.”  
  
“Well. I think he’d say yes if  _you_  asked him.” Dis mused. “He seemed quite taken with you.”  
  
Thorin choked then stammered. “I . . . I . . . have you not noticed how  _young_  he is? If he’s twenty, I’ll smile and eat this building from foundation to shingles!”  
  
“You make it sound as if you’re  _ninety_. You’re only thirty-four.” Dis dismissed. Then noting the boys’ curious eyes on them, leaned in to whisper. “And you can’t spend the rest of your life pining over Thranduil.”  
  
“I’m not pining!” Thorin hissed back, his dark brows drawing together. “It’s been six years. No one pines after  _six years_!”  
  
“Then when was the last time you went on a date?”  
  
“That would be in the third week of none of your business.”  
  
Dis rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, Bilbo rounded the corner again, with someone in tow. This time, Dis’ mouth was the one to drop open in a gape.  
  
The woman walking slightly behind Bilbo was a couple inches taller than him, but bore a strong resemblance to him, but for the obvious difference in their respective ages. She had the same changeable hazel eyes and the same curly, almost-auburn hair. Her face was round, like Bilbo’s, and lightly tanned, as if she spent a lot of time outside—unlike Dis, who spent most of her time in the office, under fluorescent lighting, directing calls and other employees, and being the office nanny—and when she smiled, her teeth were even and white, with a slight gap between the front two. Her face was lined liberally with smile- and laugh-lines, but was, in spite of that, a very girlish face.  
  
She, like Bilbo, was dressed in a  _Bag End Books_  t-shirt, but unlike the vest and jeans Bilbo wore with his, she wore an apron over fashionable twill trousers.  
  
She had an air of intelligence about her, and of  _savoir faire_  that almost made Dis, in her old coat, faded Manchester United Jersey, and worn mom-jeans feel rather scruffy.  _Almost_ , but for the equally palpable air of sweetness and warmth that attended her as well.  
  
 _Well, it’s obvious where Bilbo gets his personality from_ , Dis thought, her breath quite taken away as the woman, rather than step behind the counter, as Bilbo had, held out her hand to Dis, her direct hazel eyes taking in Thorin, Fili, and Kili, as well.  
  
“Welcome to  _Bag End Books_ ,” she said in a pleasantly low voice. She was smiling as Dis took her hand and a static shock passed between them, causing Dis to start and the woman to laugh, even as she held Dis’ hand for longer than was strictly necessary. “I’m Belladonna Took-Baggins, and I’ll be glad to help you get your bearings in this labyrinth.”  
  


TBC


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dis goes book-shopping with Bella as her guide. Thorin, Bilbo, Fili, and Kili are left to their own devices. Surprises are had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes/Warnings: None.

“Er . . . pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Took-Baggins. I’m Dis Durin,” Dis stammered, still shaking the woman’s hand. This garnered her another laugh, and those changeable hazel eyes stared directly into Dis’, a bit wonderingly.  
  
“Lovely to meet you, Dis. Please, call me Bella,” she said softly. By now, Dis had let go of her hand, and Bella turned to Thorin, her canny gaze sweeping over him as she smiled. “And it’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Mr.—?”  
  
“It’s just, er, Thorin,” Thorin replied, sounding a bit uncomfortable, his eyes darting to Bilbo, who smiled and blushed. Then he added: “I’m her brother.”  
  
“Ah,” Bella said, still chuckling a little, her own eyes ticking briefly to Bilbo. “And by now, you’ve met my son, Bilbo.”  
  
“Yes,” Thorin agreed, smiling as uncomfortably as he’d sounded. “He was lovely . . .  _to meet_! Lovely to  _meet_ , I mean!”  
  
And at this, Thorin—who rarely, in Dis’ long experience, blushed—blushed quite fiercely. And silence fell in the wake of that Freudian slip that was almost immediately broken by Kili stepping forward to Bella and sticking his hand out and up.  
  
“And I’m Kili!” he piped up as Bella shook his hand without wincing at its no doubt stickiness.  
  
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Kili,” she said warmly, seeming charmed by Kili’s bright-eyed enthusiasm. But then, everyone was. Few could stand against it, Dis had discovered early on.  
  
“And I’m Fili.” Fili introduced himself with a bit more reserve, but still smiling. The pair shook hands. “Pleased to meet you, Bella.”  
  
“Likewise, Fili.” Bella grinned at the entire group as she let go of Fili’s probably slightly cleaner hand, and clapped her own together. “Well! What a lovely family! And such a nice start to my day!”  
  
“Thank you, Mrs.—er, Bella.” Dis smiled, feeling a small swell of pride move through her. Tiny and fractured as the Durin family had become over the years, it was all the family she had, and she was extremely proud of it. And she was quite pleased that someone else looked at them and saw not the ragged remains of a once large, tight-knit, and prosperous clan, but a successful family-unit in its own right.  
  
“Now, my son says you have a giftcard for our shop, and you’re uncertain where to begin, is that right?” Bella asked with brisk friendliness, her lovely eyes lighting on Dis again. Dis found it tough to meet them, yet tougher to look away.  
  
“Er, yes. I’ve got £150 to spend and no idea what to spend it on,” she said, slightly embarrassed. For she was an avid reader of many subjects, and to find herself so flummoxed in front of a bookseller was . . . disconcerting. “Your shop is just so . . . wonderful! I’m a little overwhelmed, I suppose.”  
  
“Well, thank you, very much.” Bella’s smile widened and her face seemed to glow with the praise. She held out her arm to Dis who, after a moment of surprised reluctance, took it, and let the other woman lead her back in the direction from which she’d come. “Not to worry, lads, I’ll have her back with an armful of books in no time at all,” she called back to Thorin, Fili, Kili, and Bilbo. “In the meantime, Bilbo, be a dear and look after them?”  
  
“Er . . . yes, Mum!”  
  
Bella lead Dis down the nearest aisle and, when they had turned a corner, covered Dis’ hand with her own and chuckled. “Now, which of those sweet, handsome, boys will we be finding books for, first?”  
  
Dis’ mouth dropped open and she stared at Bella. “Well, I . . . it’s  _my_  birthday and a giftcard to spend on me, so. . . . .” she found herself stammering yet again.  
  
“So, of course you’re going to spend it on your sons and your brother. At least in part.” Bella said, her sharp, but still friendly gaze lingering on Dis’. Blushing, Dis sighed and nodded, smiling and more relieved, suddenly, than anything. Here, at least, was someone who understood and didn’t judge.  
  
“Clearly you’ve met me before,” she quipped wryly, and Bella laughed.  
  
“Oh, I think I’d remember meeting you before now, Dis,” she murmured, looking down for a moment, then clearing her throat. Dis’ blinked widened eyes and was at a loss for what to say to that—compliment? Flirtation? Simple statement?—but Bella was going on, thankfully. “At any rate, let us start with your brother . . . what are some of his strongest interests?”  
  
“War,” Dis said instantly. “Especially World War I. And, er . . . smithing. Blacksmithing is his trade.”  
  
“Hmm.” Bella’s hand left Dis’ and she tapped her chin with her index finger as her eyes narrowed in thought. Then her face was lighting up again as she grinned at Dis. “We _do_  have a book on smithing that’s been on the shelf for a while. More exactly, it’s a book on the art of making practical tools. I believe it’s called [The Complete Modern Blacksmith](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/complete-modern-blacksmith-alexander-weygers/1002338391?ean=9780898158960). . . .”  
  
“Oh! That sounds like it’d be right up Thorin’s alley!” Dis exclaimed as they edged past a browsing customer who hailed Bella by name. “Hullo, Brent,” Bella called back as she and Dis turned a corner and went past three narrow aisles before Bella turned them down the second to last one before the outer wall.  
  
 **Arts and Crafts** , the very first section proclaimed on a placard that stuck out a few inches at Bella’s eye-level, which was a few inches higher than Dis’ eye-level.  
  
The other woman paused mid-aisle and scanned the books on the left-hand side, bending to a low shelf and murmuring to herself. Dis caught and stopped herself from sizing the woman up as she bent to search the books, contenting herself with a quick peek at Bella’s shapely behind, trim waist, and long legs.  
  
After about thirty seconds, Bella said: “Aha!” and reached for a book, which she presented to Dis when she stood up.  
  
“Oh, how marvelous,” Dis breathed, taking the book—which had that lovely, new book smell—and flipping carefully through it. After a few moments, she decided that when Thorin was done with the book, she’d like to take a read, herself, though she likely wouldn’t understand the half of what she was reading without Thorin’s input. Luckily, Thorin’s room was just up the hall from her own. “Thorin will  _love_  this!”  
  
“Good, good.” Bella’s wide smile reappeared and she crossed her arms. “It’s the only copy we’ve got and it’s been here for a bit. I was despairing of it ever finding a loving home.”  
  
Touched by Bella’s concern over even just one of her books, Dis felt her own reassuring smile begin. “I can promise you, Thorin will  _absolutely_  give this book a loving home.”  
  
“Excellent! I’m so pleased when my books find good homes.” Bella nodded. “Sometimes I feel as if I own a pet shop, and I’m trying to place all these furry little people with good families.” Now Bella was the one to blush. “It feels as if I’ve got to know some of these books so well, that when it comes time to let go of them . . . I get a bit maudlin. I suppose I’ve grown accustomed to their faces.”  
  
Dis nodded in understanding. “I have the same problem, to a degree, with books that I’ve bought, or even books that I’ve borrowed from the library. Once I’ve read them— _lived_  them—it’s so difficult to return them, or give them away, even though if I didn’t I’d not have any room to move about the flat. And I’d incur some serious library fines.” She laughed and Bella joined her.  
  
“Now, since I still have so much left to spend, I’d like to look for a book on World War I for Thorin, as well,” Dis said, blushing, because Bella’s eyes had lingered on her for several moments as she’d laughed. The proprietress nodded once, and indicated Dis should leave the aisle via the other end.  
  
“I actually happen to have a few books in mind that might be suitable. . . . “ she said, her mind already on the books she planned to sell Dis, and Dis’ mind . . . Dis’ mind was stuck on the way Bella had lingered on her, so intently.  
  


*

  
  
“Mummy! You’re back!” Kili exclaimed when Dis and Bella found him, Fili, Thorin, and Bilbo seated and talking in the small lounge area not far from the counter. There were three small loveseats ringing a round coffee table on which rested several books that had been left and would doubtlessly have to be reshelved.  
  
“Of course, I’m back! Did you think I’d be gone forever?” Dis asked as her youngest flung himself at her, wrapping his arms around her waist despite the books she was carrying. Dis laughed and lifted them up higher before he could do himself injury.  
  
“Fili said you’d want to move into this shop and never, ever leave!” Kili said in a loud whisper, blinking up at Dis with wide brown eyes before shooting a glare at Fili who smirked. “But you don’t want to live here, right? If you did, then who’d make us breakfast and read us bedtime stories?”  
  
Dis shared a glance with Bella, who stifled a chuckle and hefted the books she was carrying.  
  
“Sweetheart, I’d never move into a bookshop unless you and Fili moved there, with me. Right?” Dis’ eyebrows lifted and Kili grinned up at her.  
  
“Right!” he said, hugging her waist again before letting go and reaching for the books. “What did you get? Anything good?”  
  
“Well . . . I’ll let you boys decide,” Dis said, her gaze sweeping round the small area to include Fili and Thorin—who was sitting awfully close to Bilbo Took-Baggins, and looking fairly chummy with the young man—and called to Fili: “Fili, dear, could you move the books that are on the table to one side so they don’t get mixed in?”  
  
“Yes, Mum.” Fili quickly did as he was asked and in seconds the books were in a small, neat pile near the edge of the little round table.  
  
“Thank you, love.” Dis sighed, stepping forward to put down her armful of books, then flopping into the loveseat. Kili was quick to take up the spot next to her, his inquisitive fingers already reaching for the book on the top of the pile, which just so happened to be [The Art Book for Children](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-art-book-for-children-editors-of-phaidon-press/1007911305?ean=9780714845302).  
  
“ _Wow!_ ” he breathed as Bella took up the seat next to Fili after placing her own armful of books down gracefully. Then: “ _WOW!_ ” was his next exclamation as he saw the book underneath that, [Archery for Fun](http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/archery-for-fun-jana-voelke-studelska/1112141144?ean=9780756533908).  
  
He turned big, dark eyes on her, clutching both books to his chest as if he couldn’t bear to be parted from them. “Oh, Mummy, can I borrow these when you’re done? Please?”  
  
Chuckling, Dis tousled Kili’s grown-out hair and leaned in to kiss the tip of his nose. “Silly. It’s  _for_  you!”  
  
“Really?” Kili blinked again, surprised. “But it’s  _your_  birthday!”  
  
“I know, and what I want for my birthday is to give books to my boys.  _All_  my boys,” Dis said, including Thorin in her glance. He frowned and sighed.  
  
“Dis, you shouldn’t—” he began, but Dis cut him off firmly.  
  
“Well, I already have. Bella rung me up at the back register. We only came up here to get some big bags for the books.” Dis said with great satisfaction, and stole a glance at Bella, who winked at her. Thorin glanced between them and sighed again, a very put-upon sound.  
  
Bilbo patted his arm kindly, then stood. “Wait right here, I’ll get some bags,” he said, laughter in his voice as he went. And Thorin, despite his sighs, watched Bilbo go like one gobsmacked.  
  
Dis and Bella exchanged a glance, and Bella shrugged when Dis raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Whoa! Is this for  _me_?” Fili asked picking up [Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly](http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Magic-Creating-Stories-that/dp/0060519606/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1416431859&sr=8-14&keywords=writing+books+for+kids) and [Spilling Ink: A Young Writer’s Handbook](http://www.amazon.com/Spilling-Ink-Young-Writers-Handbook/dp/159643628X/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0YJDW7BMZ8ERR4018JW6) and flipping through the latter first.  
  
“Yes, Fili, they are. And a good thing, too!” she noted with a chuckle as her already absorbed son started reading. Just as later, he’d be absorbed in writing.  
  
And so, she turned her gaze to her brother, last of all and raised her eyebrow again. Thorin rolled his eyes, but reached for the last three books in Dis’ pile. His eyes widened as he mouthed the titles of all three books.  
  
“Dis, I—” he started to say, then opened the book on blacksmithing with slow reverence. “These are—”  
  
“You’re welcome,” Dis said smugly, settling back in the loveseat with a shared smirk for Bella. “Really, though, I was quite stingy. That pile Bella brought is  _aaaall_  for me.”  
  
“Huh,” was the response from the three Durin men as they each got buried in their own books, and Dis grinned up at Bilbo, who’d just reappeared with the aforementioned big bags, and a wink and a smile.  
  


*

  
  
“. . . and you still have almost £50 left on the card, so don’t forget to stop by and  _spend it_ ,” Bella said as she and Bilbo ushered them out of the shop.  
  
Ahead of Dis and Thorin, the boys went along, chattering excitedly to each other about their books. Thorin, stepping outside ahead of Dis, looked back at Bella and smiled. That smile widened as he glanced past her to Bilbo, who was smiling his lovely smile— _Bella’s smile_ , Dis realized, seeing them standing next to each other—and holding out two business cards.  
  
“These are for you two. Erm, this one is mine,” Bilbo said, holding the right card out to Thorin just as Dis reached out to take that one. Thorin hesitated for a moment before taking the card and looking at it, mouthing what was written on it. “And, er, that’s my mobile number on the back, just in case you . . . er . . . have a reading . . . emergency. . . .”  
  
“Thank you,” Thorin said gravely, looking at the back of the card—there was, indeed, a number scribbled there in blue ink—before looking into Bilbo’s eyes. The younger man blushed.  
  
“It’s nothing. You know . . . if you ever feel like calling to talk about books or something . . . that’s me.” Bilbo clicked his tongue against his teeth and pointed at the card. “That’s me.”  
  
And he and Thorin stood there smiling at each other until someone honked their horn a block over, startling everyone. Then Bilbo laughed and shook his head, muttering about noisy, impatient clot-heads before shrugging and looking at Dis.  
  
“Oh, and here’s my mum’s card, Dis!” he said, holding the second card out to her, his smile becoming a grin. Bella, meanwhile, looked at her son with widened, startled eyes. “You can call her, too, to chat about book emergencies and . . . whatever. Her mobile’s on the back.”  
  
“I—thank you,” Dis said to Bilbo, taking the card, but looking at Bella, who was still staring at Bilbo as if he’d just spoken Russian. “I’ll certainly keep you both and  _Bag End Books_  in mind for my . . . er, bookish needs.”  
  
“And feel free to stop by just to chat, if you’re around and have some time to kill,” Bilbo said wistfully, darting a gaze at Thorin, who was staring at the card as if trying to decrypt it. Dis smiled a little and reminded herself to help him in his decryption efforts later. At least one of them remembered what it meant when a good-looking young man gave one his card and private number.  
  
 _But,_  she wondered, meeting Bella’s unreadable, searching gaze,  _what does it mean when a good-looking young man gives me his good-looking mother’s card, when said good-looking mother clearly hadn’t been planning to?_  
  
Then Bella smiled her wide smile and held out her hand to Dis, who took it—this time sans static electricity, though in the cold, late morning air, Bella’s hand was warm and her grip very firm.  
  
“Yes, if ever you feel like . . . calling . . . or stopping by for any reason, please feel free to,” she said, just as warmly and firmly as her grip. “You’ve been a day-brightener. You and your boys.”  
  
“Thank you, Bella. I can definitely say the same of you and  _your_  boy,” Dis said, holding Bella’s hand for a few seconds longer than necessary without quite realizing she was doing so. When she let go, as if a signal had been given, Fili and Kili decided to have a race to the car. Dis and Thorin exchanged glances and sighed.  
  
“Have a lovely day, you two,” Dis called back as she and Thorin hurried off after the boys—Thorin with a hastily mumbled:  _’Bye, Bilbo. Missus._  
  
“You, too!” Bella and Bilbo called after them, laughing.  
  


*

  
  
“He fancies you, you know?” Dis said as they broke into a light jog to try and keep up with the boys, who were dodging ‘round and about passersby. And at the same time Dis spoke, Thorin also said: “She fancies you, you know?”  
  
And they both stopped dead in the center of the sidewalk, seas of humanity flowing around them, as they turned to gape at each other.  
  
“You’ve gone mental!” Sister and brother then both said at the same time, hands going to hips as they glared at each other sternly.  
  
And there they stood, sputtering and glaring until Fili and Kili, having reached the car and come running back to see what was keeping them, tugged on their arms, complaining about cold air and slow adults.  
  


TBC


End file.
